The Pandemic Pivot:

Nina Lee Aquino - With a string of firsts in Asian Canadian theatre, Nina Lee Aquino was the founding Artistic Director of fu-GEN Asian Canadian theatre company, organized the first Asian Canadian theatre conference, edited the first (2-volume) Asian Canadian play anthology, and co-edited the first (award-winning) book on Asian Canadian theatre. She became Artistic Director of Cahoots Theatre, currently holds the same position at Factory Theatre and is president of the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres. Awards for her directorial work include the Ken McDougall Awards, the John Hirsch Prize, the Toronto Theatre Critics Awards for Best Director, and three Dora Awards for Outstanding Direction. Nina was the 2019 winner of the Toronto Arts Foundation´s Margo Bindhart and Rita Davies Cultural Leadership Award.

Sue Balint - Sue Balint produces performance projects and festivals. In addition to producing Native Earth Performing Arts’ Weesageechak Begins to Dance, she is also the producer of Aluna Theatre’s CAMINOS works in development festival and RUTAS International Multi-Arts Festival, as well as SummerWorks / The Theatre Centre’s Progress international festival of performance and ideas. Other recent collaborations include projects with Modern Times Stage Company, So Much Drama, and Chocolate Woman Collective. Sue was the 2018 recipient of The Leonard McHardy and John Harvey Award for Leadership in Administration and is also an Adaptive Facilitator for the Metcalf Foundation’s Staging Change program.

Michael Wheeler - Michael Wheeler is an Assistant Professor in The DAN School of Drama and Music at Queen’s University, where he is coordinator of the graduate programs in Arts Management and Arts Leadership. He is also Director of Artistic Research at SpiderWebShow Performance (SWS), a digitally-engaged live performance company that operates out of The Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts in Kingston, Ontario, which serves as a venue and laboratory for SWS experiments, performances, and presentations, including the Festival of Live Digital Art (FOLDA). Previously, he was Executive Director of Generator, an arts service organization in Toronto that is an innovation and leadership incubator for independent performing arts. As an artist, most recently he directed the World Premiere of Behaviour at The Great Canadian Theatre Company in Ottawa.